Revelation 21:8 says, “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”

 

Galatians 5:19-21 says, “Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.”

The temptations of this life may try to ensnare you as bait, but nothing is worth missing heaven and spending eternity in hell over. Your mindset needs to be focused on eternity and not adjust to the darkness and be blinded by your sin with your eyes only on the present!

Whether you want to admit or not, your choices determine your future. Yes, God is sovereign, and He has a predestined plan for the lives of each and every individual that walks upon this planet, but each person has a choice whether or not to fulfill the perfect will of God for their lives. 2 Peter 3:9 says, “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” It is God’s will that none should perish and spend eternal life in hell, but the truth is that people are dying daily on their way to the eternal flames of hell. Isaiah said concerning hell, “Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it.” (5:14) Hell grows in number everyday, and the reason is because of the multitudes of people that have exalted themselves in their own lusts and pride. The church must step up by preaching and living a pure gospel that we may win souls for the cause of Jesus Christ to preserve them from the eternal flames of hell.

 

One story that Jesus spoke of in the New Testament was concerning Lazarus and the rich man. The rich man had everything he could ever want: the mansion, the family, the riches and the popularity. Every dream he ever had was fulfilled. However, there was a beggar that laid everyday at his gate, full of ulcers and pain. He lived in desperation and poverty. His dream was to eat the crumbs that fell from the rich man’s table. Dogs even came and licked his sores. But there was one thing he had that this rich man did not, and that was the love and power of Jesus Christ. His focus was not on this world, but eternal life in God’s presence.

 

There came a moment where both would die, and they both would reach two different destinations. Even though the rich man had a lot in this world, he could not take any of those things with him into eternal life! Money will never get you to heaven, no matter how many indulgences you pay! While Lazarus was carried into paradise, which before Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection was located right above hell, by the angels of the LORD, the rich man died, was buried, and went to hell. In hell, while being in complete torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Lazarus in the glory of God in paradise. The rich man called on Abraham and asked him if Lazarus could just go dip his finger in cool water so that he could touch and cool his tongue because of the torments of the flames. My how the tables had turned! On earth, it was Lazarus wanting crumbs from the rich man, but in hell, it was the rich man who wanted Lazarus to give him a drop of water. However, he could not receive that drop because his eternal destination was already set! Then he asked Abraham if he would send Lazarus to his house to witness to his five brothers, telling them of the reality of hell. He did not want his wealth back or anything he had in the world. All he wanted was a drop of water and for someone to tell his family so that they would choose righteousness over sin, God over Satan, heaven over hell!

 

Many believe the preachings of hell are merely “scare tactics” to persuade someone to kneel down at the feet of Jesus Christ and give their heart to Him, but hell is a reality, and it is up to us where we choose as our eternal destination. Revelation 22:14 says, “Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.” If we want to make it through the gates of that city, we must have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and obey His commandments. In the new heaven and new earth, God will create a lookout for people to look into and see hell and the Lake of Fire, to look upon the carcasses of men and women, where the worm dies not. I would rather be the one looking over hell than the one being in it for eternity, but it is up to us. One man that ministered greatly on the love and grace of God but preached the most infamous message on hell was a revivalist of the First Great Awakening, Jonathan Edwards.

 

Jonathan Edwards was a Calvinist who pastored a Congregational Church Northampton, Massachusetts. He expressed his concern for the “general deadness throughout the land” and set himself to seek God for a “revival of religion.” Others also began to seek God diligently, and in 1726 a spiritual awakening broke out in various regions along the eastern seaboard. One of the communities where the Holy Spirit outpoured significant power was Northampton, Massachusetts. Indeed, an awesome sense of His divine presence permeated the entire community. Edwards reports that during the spring and summer of 1735, “the town seemed to be full of the presence of God.” In every part of town, the Spirit of God was powerfully at work until “there was scarcely a single person in the tow, old or young, left unconcerned about the great things of the eternal world.” Without any sort of planned evangelistic outreach “souls did as it were come by flocks to Jesus Christ.” Edward’s church suddenly filled with those seeking salvation and with those experiencing the fruit of already being born again. People from other communities often scoffed when they heard of the events in Northampton. Simply upon entering the community, however, their skepticism inevitably dissipated because of the overwhelming presence of God. As converts returned home, they carried the spirit of revival with them, and so the awakening spread. During this time, Edwards preached his famous sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” So powerfully did conviction of sin grip the people that Sunday morning, that the penitent cries for mercy drowned Edwards’ voice. Hell became so real to the congregation that some clutched the backs of pews while others wrapped their arms around the pillars to keep, as it were, from being consumed by its eternal flames. Edwards made hell “real enough to be found in the atlas,” writes Edwards’ biographer, Ola Winslow. His preaching derived its power from his prayer life. He was not enthusiastic in his preaching. He just read his sermons straight through. But he would spend whole days and weeks in prayer, and it was not unusual for him to spend eighteen hours in prayer prior to preaching a single sermon. The result was a revival that not only transformed the moral and spiritual character of his own community, but also that of the entire nation.*

 

Believe it or not, hell is a reality, and one thing is for certain: personal experiences will always shape a person’s beliefs. One of those people would be Dr. Azzacov, whose story was written in an article in a Finnish newspaper named ‘Ammennusatia’. A geological group who drilled a hole about 14.4 kilometers deep in the crust of the earth are saying that they heard human screams. The second surprise was the high temperature they discovered in the earth’s center. ‘The calculations indicate the given temperature was about 1,100 degrees Celsius, or over 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit,’ Azzacov pointed out. ‘This is far more then we expected. It seems almost like an inferno of fire is brutally going on in the center of the earth. ‘The last discovery was nevertheless the most shocking to our ears, so much so that the scientists are afraid to continue the project. We tried to listen to the earth’s movements at certain intervals with supersensitive microphones, which were let down through the hole. What we heard turned those logically thinking scientists into a trembling ruins. It was a sometimes a weak, but high pitched sound which we thought to be coming from our own equipment,’ explained Dr Azzacov. ‘But after some adjustments we comprehended that indeed the sound came from the earth’s interior. We could hardly believe our own ears. We heard a human voice, screaming in pain. Even though one voice was discernible, we could hear thousands, perhaps millions, in the background, of suffering souls screaming. After this ghastly discovery, about half of the scientists quit because of fear. Hopefully, that which is down there will stay there,’ Dr Azzacov added.** 

 

“As a communist I don’t believe in heaven or the Bible but as a scientist I now believe in hell,” said Dr. Azzacove. “Needless to say we were shocked to make such a discovery. But we know what we saw and we know what we heard. And we are absolutely convinced that we drilled through the gates of Hell!”  “We lowered a microphone, designed to detect the sounds of plate movements down the shaft. But instead of plate movements we heard a human voice screaming in pain! At first we thought the sound was coming from our own equipment.” “But when we made adjustments our worst suspicions were confirmed. The screams weren’t those of a single human, they were the screams of millions of humans!**

 

Do you know why Jacques Costeau, the famous underwater explorer, quit deep sea diving sometime before he died? It is said that he stopped because he had heard in one of the underwater caves he was exploring, the sounds of people screaming. There was also another time, when one of his men, who was in a diving bell in the deepest trench at the Bermuda Triangle, also had a similar experience. He signaled to be brought up immediately. After being revived from his shock, he told others of his frightening experience of hearing “Screams of people in pain”.**

 

Resources:

*”2000 Years of Charismatic History” by Eddie L. Hyatt. 

**documentation of people who have heard the “screams of hell” and have “seen visions”
-http://amightywind.com/hell/aboutsounds.htm
-These details are from the translation of an article in a Finnish newspaper named ‘Ammennusatia’.